The invention relates to a recloseable, cuboidal folding box having a front side wall, a rear side wall, a right-hand side wall, which connects the front side wall and the rear side wall, and a tab-forming section, having a base closure, which is formed by four base closure flaps, having a top closure, which is formed by four closure flaps, it being possible for two base closure flaps and/or two closure flaps to be adhesively bonded to one another, having a tear-open tab which is integrated in the rear side wall, is retained in the rear side wall by means of a weakening or predetermined tearing line and is connected to a closure flap of the top closure via a folding line, and having at least one inner rear wall which is attached to the tab-forming section and on which if appropriate an intermediate wall and, adjoining the intermediate wall, an inner front wall is [sic] articulated.
German Patent Application DE 39 32 441 discloses a recloseable folding box which comprises a front side wall and a rear side wall as well as two side walls which connect the front side wall and the rear side wall, a base part and a top closure flap, it being the case that the closure flap is connected, via a fastening tab, to an insertion tongue which, for its part, is arranged in the rear side wall or front side wall via a weakening line and be torn out of said side wall. This folding box, however, does not provide any possible means for hanging it on a hook in any way.
Once said folding box has been filled with the goods which are to be sold, it has to be displayed to the customer in a manner which shows it to best effect and which allows it to be handled easily. A very clearly laid-out display may be provided in sales racks by means of the generally known self-service hooks, which make it possible for a plurality of folding boxes to be received one behind the other.
In order that the folding box described can be hung on such a hook, a correspondingly shaped blank with a hanging device has to be fitted on the folding box in addition. This usually takes place by this part with the corresponding hanging device being adhesively bonded on the folding box at a suitable location in an additional operation. However, the production process of the folding box is thus made more complicated, inter alia, as a result of the production of the further blank or the adhesive bonding of the latter on the finished box, and the greater number of operating steps increases the amount of time required for the production process; furthermore, this means a very much higher outlay in terms of apparatus.
German Patent Application DE 43 22 555 likewise discloses a recloseable, cuboidal folding box. This folding box comprises a rear side wall, which is formed by an outer side-wall part and an inner side-wall part, a front side wall, two side walls which connect the front side wall and the rear side wall, a base closure and a top closure, it being the case that the outer side-wall part has, in its top region, a hanging tab with a correspondingly shaped hanging device, for example round holes or slots.
The hanging tab can be used to position the folding box on a hook. However, since the hanging tab is merely of single-layer design and consists of the same material as the rest of the folding box, problems arise during practical usage of the folding box.
If, taking into consideration environmental reasons and reasons of cost, the folding box is produced from thin material, the hanging tab has insufficient stability. Even if the folding box is subjected to a slight, unintentional pulling action, the hanging tab tears off, with the result that the hanging tab loses its function and it is no longer possible for the box to be hung up as desired. Furthermore, the appearance of the box is adversely effected as a result and it is no longer possible for the box to be displayed to the customer.
Conversely, producing the folding box from thicker, more stable material means that, although the hanging tab can be subjected to tensile loading to a very much greater extent, a large amount of material is wasted unnecessarily at the same time because the rest of the walls of the folding box are over-dimensioned.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,344,533 describes a box which has a hanging means which is made up of two individual hanging tabs. However, this box has several disadvantages as far as its production and use are concerned.
The blank of the disclosed box has a vertical construction, i.e. the two hanging tabs and the end tab, which together form the hanging means of the box, are arranged in a straight line with the four side walls, the individual parts being connected to one another by a folding line in each case. This type of folding blank means that, once the body of the box has been assembled, the box can only be filled from the side.
Furthermore, when the box has been completed, there is a section, in the region of the hanging means, which has a threefold material thickness, as a result of three walls located one. above the other, and is thus over-dimensioned, which makes the box more expensive to produce, as a result of increased material consumption, and at the same time results in the weight of the box increasing, with the generally known disadvantages. It is only possible to open the box by first of all a strip of material over the actual opening being removed in an irreversible manner and thus ending up as waste, which, from current environmental standpoints, is undesirable. The box is then torn open at a perforation line.
The box can only be reclosed by the hanging means, following corresponding folding, simultaneously serving as a closure cover and being pushed into the opening of the box. This rules out the possibility, once the box has been opened for the first time and closed again, of the box being hung up again by its actual hanging means. The hanging means thus loses its original, actual function.
Furthermore, it is not possible to rule out the situation, during closure of the box, where the closure cover, in particular when the box is no longer completely full, slips, in an uncontrolled manner, too far into the interior of the box, with the result that it is no longer possible to grip said closure cover and the box can then only be opened with very great difficulty.
Finally, the simultaneous use of the hanging means as a closure cover for the box means that when the box is still sealed, in particular when the box is of a large overall depth, a large, bulky hanging means is produced, and this results, for example, in the box taking up a very large amount of surface area when it is hung up in a rack, with the result that the actual capacity of the rack can only be utilized insufficiently by the boxes disclosed.
DE 195 41 904 discloses a similar folding box. The folding box comprises a front side wall, a rear side wall, a right-hand side wall, which connects the front side wall and the rear side wall, and a left-hand side wall. The box has a base closure, which is formed by four base closure flaps, and a top closure, which is formed by four closure flaps, two closure flaps of the top closure and two base closure flaps being adhesively bonded to one another. Furthermore, integrated in the front side wall or in the rear side wall is a tear-open tab which is retained in the front side wall or the rear side wall by means of a weakening or predetermined tearing line and is connected to a closure flap of the top closure or to a base closure flap of the base closure via a folding line. At least one inner rear wall is provided in the folding box, to be precise if the tear-open tab is located in the rear side wall. In the case where the tear-open tab is located in the front side wall, then an intermediate wall and, adjoining the intermediate wall, an inner front wall is [sic] articulated.
Articulated on the rear side wall, in the region of the latter which is free of the tear-open tab, is a first hanging tab, which is located in the plane formed by the rear side wall and has a hanging device, such as slots or round holes. At the same time, a second hanging tab with a hanging device, such as slots or round holes, is punched out of the same region of the inner rear wall as in the case of the rear side wall, starting from the folding line between the inner rear wall and closure flap, it being the case that the closure flap which is articulated on the inner rear wall is of a greater width at the folding line than the second hanging tab.
DE 195 35 008 has disclosed a recloseable, cuboidal folding box having a front side wall, a rear side wall, a left-hand side wall, which connects the front side wall and the rear side wall, and a right-hand side wall, having a recloseable base, preferably comprising three base closure flaps articulated on the side walls, and having three further closure flaps, which are articulated on the front side wall, on the left-hand side wall, which connects the front side wall and the rear side wall, and on the right-hand side wall and which are located opposite the base closure flaps, and having a fourth closure flap, which is articulated on the rear side wall and, together with the three further closure flaps, forms the top closure of the folding box, this making it possible to have a secure and stable means of hanging the folding box on the known self-service hooks of sales racks within shops or pharmacies.
The fourth closure flap is made up, according to the invention, of a plurality of sections, to be precise of
a first hanging tab with a hanging device, which is articulated on the rear side wall of the folding box via a folding line, there being articulated on the first hanging tab, via a folding line,
a second hanging tab with a hanging device, there being articulated on the second hanging tab, via a folding line,
an end tab,
it being the case that the first hanging tab, the second hanging tab and the end tab are arranged one behind the other in a straight line, it being the case that the three further closure flaps and the fourth closure flap are each articulated on the same side of the four side walls, and it being the case that, when the folding box has been completed, the end tab is adhesively bonded to the closure flap articulated on the front side wall.
This folding box has a double-layer hanging means, but does not have a tamperproof seal which is recloseable.
DE 198 21 087 has disclosed a recloseable, cuboidal folding box having a front side wall, a rear side wall, a right-hand side wall, which connects the front side wall and the rear side wall, and a left-hand side wall, having a base closure, which is formed by four base closure flaps, having a top closure, which is formed by four closure flaps, it being possible for two closure flaps of the top closure and two base closure flaps to be adhesively bonded to one another, having a tear-open tab which is integrated in the front or the rear side wall, is retained in the front side wall or the rear side wall by means of a weakening or predetermined tearing line and is connected to a closure flap of the top closure or to a base closure flap of the base closure via a folding line, and having at least one inner rear wall on which if appropriate an intermediate wall and, adjoining the intermediate wall, an inner front wall is [sic] articulated.
Furthermore, a flap is integrated in the front wall or the rear side wall by means of two weakening or predetermined tearing lines and is adhesively bonded in a reversible manner by means of at least one spot of adhesive.
The disadvantage with all the boxes known from the prior art is that, in so far as they have the tamperproof seal disclosed by DE 43 22 555, the hanging means is always provided on that side of the folding box which is located opposite the tamperproof seal, i.e. in the base region of the folding box when said folding boxes are ones with a single-part blank. For the reasons specified above, the task of adhesively bonding a hanging means on the box subsequently is always to be avoided.
It is annoying for the customer if the hanging means of the folding box and the closure are arranged on opposite sides of the folding box. Experience has shown that the customer takes the folding box in his/her hand and opens it at the top, that is to say in the vicinity of the hanging means, by irreversibly tearing open, and destroying, the folding box. Subsequent closure of said folding box is no longer possible.
The customer who has had a little more experience of such boxes opens the folding box, as envisaged, at the tamperproof seal, removes the desired product, for example a plaster, and then closes the box again. If the latter is then hung on a hook by the hanging means, the closed closure is located at the bottom. It is thus not possible to rule out the situation where the folding box comes open unintentionally and the products located therein drop out.
The task of the invention is to solve the problems described.
The object of the invention is to provide a recloseable, cuboidal folding box which has a tamperproof seal and a hanging means arranged so as to be offset through 90xc2x0, with the result that the situation where the contents of the box drop out once said box has been opened and hung up again is avoided, of which the hanging means has a high stability, with as little material being used as possible, which can be produced cost-effectively, with as little material being used as possible, which can be erected, filled and closed easily and quickly with the aid of machines, and of which the folding blank along with the integrated hanging means is in a single piece.
This object, on which the invention is based, is achieved by the teaching of the main claim. Advantageous configurations are explained in the subclaims. The invention also comprises a punched blank of the folding box according to the invention.
The recloseable, cuboidal folding box according to the invention thus comprises a front side wall, a rear side wall, a right-hand side wall, which connects the front side wall and the rear side wall, and a tab-forming section. The folding box has a base closure, which is formed by four base closure flaps, and a top closure, which is formed by four closure flaps, it being possible for two base closure flaps and/or two closure flaps to be adhesively bonded to one another. Furthermore, integrated in the rear side wall is a tear-open tab which is retained in the rear side wall by means of a weakening or predetermined tearing line and is connected to a closure flap of the top closure via a folding line. Provided in the folding box is at least one inner rear wall on which if appropriate an intermediate wall and, adjoining the intermediate wall, an inner front wall is [sic] articulated.
The tab-forming section is made up
a) of a first tab wall, which is articulated on the front side wall,
b) of a first hanging tab with a hanging device, which is articulated on the first tab wall via a folding line,
c) of a second hanging tab with a hanging device, which is articulated on the first hanging tab via a folding line,
d) of a second tab wall, which is articulated on the second hanging tab via a folding line and which is connected to the inner rear wall via a folding line, it being the case that
e) the sum of the widths of the first tab wall and second tab wall is no greater than the width of the right-hand side wall.
The inner rear wall and the rear side wall may be adhesively bonded to one another, in order to increase the stability of the folding box.
In a preferred embodiment of the folding box, the dimensions of the first and second hanging tabs correspond, and the hanging device in the first hanging tab is advantageously of larger dimensions than the hanging device in the second hanging tab, to be precise in order to ensure that, despite the unavoidable inaccuracy during the folding operation of the folding box, the requirements for the dimensions of the opening, which is formed from the hanging devices located, possibly not completely, one above the other, are fulfilled.
It is also possible, however, for the size ratios of the two hanging devices to be reversed.
Furthermore, the two hanging tabs may also be adhesively bonded to one another, in order to increase the stability of the, hanging means of the folding box, which is formed from the two hanging tabs.
In order to make it possible for the customer, once he/she has purchased the box, to remove the hanging means without difficulty and without destroying the box, the folding line between the first tab wall and the first hanging tab and the folding line between the second hanging tab and the second tab wall may be designed as a severing perforation. This makes it possible for the hanging means to be specifically severed without there being any risk of the folding box tearing.
In order to increase the flexibility of the hanging means formed from the two hanging tabs, punched sections in the manner of knife cuts may be provided over the entire length, or merely in certain areas, of said folding lines.
The first tab wall and the second tab wall 144 are preferably of the same width.
Furthermore, in each case two dust flaps are preferably articulated on the first tab wall and/or on the second tab wall, in each case two dust flaps advantageously being adhesively bonded to one another.
When the dust flaps are adhesively bonded, a region of the overlap, the rigidity of the closed folding box is produced by the double-layered arrangement. [sic]
A further advantageous embodiment of the folding box resides in the particular configuration of the inner rear wall, much of which may be removed. On that edge of the inner rear wall which is located opposite the tear-open tab, in the region of the intermediate wall, some of the inner rear wall has been removed. A partition wall is attached to the inner rear wall via a folding line and is adjoined by a tab, which is integrally formed on it via the folding line.
A the tab is adhesively bonded to the front side wall when the folding box is assembled. This produces, in the folding box, two compartments which are divided off from one another by the partition wall and may be filled with different products, for example with products which, for their part, are packaged in cartons.
In order to make it easier for the products or the cartons to be removed, two grip means may be recessed in the inner rear wall.
In a further preferred embodiment, a swing flap is integrated in the rear side wall by means of two weakening or predetermined tearing lines and is adhesively bonded in a reversible manner by means of at least one spot of adhesive. The spot of adhesive is located on the swing flap itself or on the inner rear wall.
The swing flap preferably extends over the entire width of the front side wall or of the rear side wall.
The swing slap is preferably positioned centrally on the front side wall or rear side wall.
The invention also relates to the punched blank for producing a folding box which is characterized in the claims.
The advantage of this folding box resides in the fact that the longitudinal side may be utilized as a tamperproof opening without it being possible for the hanging means to contribute to weakening the opening when it is hung up in the rack system. The hanging means and closure are turned through 90xc2x0 in relation to one another.
The folding box is machine-compatible; it is provided with adhesive when the blank is the flattened-out state, is erected by the cartoning machine and is transported to the filling station, the hanging tab having already been formed on the folding box. The front and rear sides of the folding box provide excellent design possibilities. Once the folding box has been erected and filled, simple adhesive bonding of the head region and of the central region is possible. This adhesive bonding achieves good dustproofing, this dispensing with the need for the folding box to be fully wrapped subsequently or provided with additional packaging. The folding box is adhesively bonded, dustproof, provided with a tamperproof seal and recloseable; it is easy to handle and can be designed in various ways. Problem-free processing is possible. Furthermore, the folding box is environmentally friendly and is produced from a folding blank with minimum material consumption.
During assembly of the folding box, a hanging means is formed on the same, said hanging means being made up of two hanging tabsxe2x80x94and therefore of two layers of material. This has the advantage that the hanging means is characterized by high stability, with the result that it withstands even relatively high tensile loading without there being any risk of it being torn off. In particular if the two hanging tabs are adhesively bonded to one another, the result is a fixed composite arrangement, which may also be designed in an aesthetically pleasing manner.
Apart from the hanging means, as far as the folding box is concerned, the walls, with the exception of envisaged adhesive-bonding areas, are of single-layer design in each case. This means that, overall, a very small amount of material is used up for designing the folding box, although a load-bearing hanging means is nevertheless formed.
The integration of the hanging means in the folding blank of the folding box allows the folding box to be completed within one operating step. The subsequent task, thus involving unnecessary outlay, of adhesively bonding a hanging means on the otherwise finished box is dispensed with.